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Monday, June 25, 2012

Stopping Negativity and the Truth about Black Magick

This is a picture I took a few full moons ago, during a time where I felt my absolute worst. This year has been full of missteps for me and my husband. We'd had everything from car wrecks to ill pets to family deaths Though things are better now, I never once thought that I would see the light during that dark period. I turned to my religion for help.

Black magick has a bad reputation for being evil when it is merely subtractive. Black magick is defined by its color. Think about what you would use a black candle for; that defines what black magick is. It is no more evil than magick incorporating white, or pink, or blue. I would strongly advise against its use until you have some experience in the field, but I would never suggest to turn away from it. It can be a very helpful tool in the right moments and was exactly what I needed to make it through this year.

During the new moon in February, I performed one of the few spells that have been passed to me. This spell was to remove negativity, though I will not elaborate on it any further. Spells work best if they have some kind of personal connection to you. If you are looking for a subtractive spell, I encourage you to look no further than your own hands. Creating your own spell or adding to an existing one, especially one that has been passed to you, can create overwhelmingly powerful magick. This was one of those spells.

I will also warn that black magick will go above and beyond your expectations. I look to black magick as a last resort. You don't use subtractive spells unless you absolutely have no choice because they will inevitably make your life worse before your life can improve. Now you can help your odds by being highly specific. The more specific you are with your spell, the better chances it has of doing exactly what you need it to do. This includes both wording and the tools you use. Those practicing witchcraft should all be familiar with color, candle and herb magick as well as using the time of day, week and month to your advantage. However, no matter how specific you make your spell and no matter how much you hope, black magick does one thing: it subtracts. It removes. And though you will always get what you want, you may get more than you bargain for.

The bottom line is that you had best be prepared to handle the consequences of your actions.

The spell I preformed in February was quite effective in a variety of ways. My life did indeed get worse before it could get better, but the spell was useful in removing the toxicity from my life that was dragging me down. My husband lost his job, but his job was pulling him down. Because he lost his job, we couldn't support our apartment, but we had been having issues with our apartment complex for months - so far as to say that some of our neighbors' negligence of their pets is why mine became ill.

It couldn't get worse? It did. In extracting the toxicity out of my life, I lost many friendships, some very close and dear to me. However, these people were spreading me thin in a way I never understood until they were gone.

I then spent several months in a terrible depressive funk. As a freelancing illustrator, this was particularly problematic because I couldn't work efficiently. I dragged behind on deadlines and eventually offered refunds (though my commissioners are so amazing that they turned down any refunds and offered me deadlineless commissions!).

It was the efforts I made to remove that depression that turned my life around completely. These efforts I would have never made had my husband and I been in the position we were several months ago - with an expensive apartment and a going-nowhere job, with toxic friends pulling on my every nerve. I was finally free.

The first thing I did was sign up for an exercise course. In a single month, I lost 13 pounds and am now on a life-changing weight loss adventure to get down to where I was in high school. I've had some hiccups but the energy and happiness I get from exercising and losing the weight has changed me for the better.

Starting to exercise and losing weight led me to people I've known for years but I've never been very close with. They're trying to lose weight as well. Now we hang out more often and I've been inviting them over on Mondays for a group exercise. Their friendship not only benefits me from social interaction but improves my life - something I didn't experience with the friends I lost.

The second action I took was looking into pagan meets in my area. I've been a pagan for so long but the only other pagans I've ever met were by pure chance. I'm trying to change that now, though as an introvert, it has been a struggle. Coming out of my shell would be a huge improvement.

The third was to change the way I was taking commissions. I now do a lot of loose grayscale sketches over finished pieces. Not only are they far more popular and more instantly rewarding, but I've been making more money through them. I would have never taking this change had everything not come to a grinding halt in March.

The final action was planning out a vacation to see my best friend who lives 500 miles away. She has always been there for me but I always feel a massive absence in my life when we haven't been around each other for a while. My will to improve my life has affected her and she too is exercising and counting the calories. This means that my visit to her will not interrupt my diet habits.

So I suppose the moral of this story is that black magick is strong - it will work in ways you did not expect - but if you can handle the consequences of your actions, the outcome can be pretty amazing.

I'm Marietta, a nontheistic witch mixing modernity with traditional practices. My blog focuses on my journey with my familiars and connected spirits, diving deeper into my work with the Man in Black and my psychopomp guide D. Here, I present my rituals, altars and spells as needed while exploring witchcraft theory and history.